A couple who unwittingly threw away £15,000 in cash were reunited with the money in time for Christmas thanks to staff at a recycling centre.
The forgotten hoard was discovered inside a cardboard box that was dumped at the depot in Midsomer Norton near Bath, Somerset.
Staff members resisted the temptation to keep the money for themselves and set out to identify the previous owners.
Using CCTV footage and car registration details logged at the site, they traced the car that had dropped off the box back to a house in Burnham-on-Sea.
The residents later told police they had been clearing the home of a recently deceased relative in Bath, who was known to hide money in “unusual” places.
“They were aghast to hear the details of the find... £15,000 in cash,” said Avon and Somerset Police in a statement on their Facebook page.
“We would like to say a big thank you to the staff at the recycling centre. Without their diligent attitude, integrity and assistance, the family would never have known about the money found, and we would not have been able to return it to them, especially in time for Christmas.”
Bath and North East Somerset Council, which runs the recycling centre, paid tribute to its employees for their “diligence and professionalism”.
It added: “Our eagle-eyed member of staff, who spotted the money, is currently having a well deserved Christmas break.”
